Hyundai’s first electric vehicle racer, the Veloster N ETCR, has debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Designed and built at Hyundai Motorsport’s headquarters in Alzenau, Germany, the electric racer is eligible to compete in the newly-founded ETCR series which will kick off in 2020.

Based on the road-going Veloster N, the Veloster N ETCR is radically different from an engineering point of view as it features four mid-mounted electric motors and rear-wheel-drive — two firsts for a Hyundai Motorsport project.

Hyundai started design work on the Veloster N ETCR in November 2018 and the first shakedown of the prototype was completed in August 2019. A full testing program will begin later this month with the help of Hyundai Motorsport’s trained and experienced engineers. The goal is to build two Veloster N ETCR cars for the first ETCR season.

According to the Korean carmaker, development of the ETCR project “mirrors Hyundai’s wider strategy for development of electric road cars, and further underscores Hyundai Motorsport’s high-performance capabilities.” The vehicle also benefits from the company’s expertise in touring car racing, following the success of the i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR packages.

Hyundai did not reveal much about the specs of the Veloster N ETCR but did mention it packs a 65-kWh battery and has a weight of 1,700 kg (3,748 lbs). Since it will compete against the likes of the Cupra e-Racer, expect a similar output of around 700 hp and a 0-100 km/h time of just over 3 seconds.

The Veloster N ETCR project will be integrated alongside Hyundai’s ongoing commitments as a manufacturer within the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), as well as its Customer Racing efforts with the i20 R5, i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR. More importantly, all lessons learned from racing the Veloster N ETCR will be shared with Hyundai’s global R&D facility in Namyang, South Korea to be used in developing production cars.